Carbide To Report On Gas Leak

March 20, 1985|By United Press International.

DANBURY, CONN. — Union Carbide Corp. said it would release a report Wednesday on the catastrophic gas leak in India that might affect billion-dollar lawsuits, U.S. jobs and the worldwide image of the company.

The firm has worked feverishly to complete its own investigation of the gas leak at its plant in Bhopal, India, last December that killed at least 2,500 people and injured thousands, a spokesman said.

Scheduled for release at a news conference, the report will deal with the leak of methyl isocyanate gas that turned into the worst chemical accident in history.

Union Carbide later suspended production of the chemical its facility in Institute, W.Va. A decision to end production of the chemical at the West Virginia plant could mean layoffs for up to 700 people with a total payroll of $20 million, said spokesman Tom Failla.

Failla, an official at Union Carbide`s world headquarters in Danbury, declined to discuss details of the report or how the findings might affect those workers.

Company scientists and technicians ``have been working on it since they came back from India in mid-December,`` he said. ``They`ve been working on experiments, trying to replicate the reaction that took place in the tank that released the gas.